Founded by Anna Zaharakos, Studio Z is a group of prolific designers that has been working quietly behind-the-scenes since 1988, creating classic, original designs for the contract textile and furniture industry. While you may not know us by name, chances are you've seen our work -- on panels, seating, and wallcoverings -- carried by more than 30 North American furniture and textile suppliers, including major companies such as Knoll, Steelcase, Haworth, Teknion, Maharam, and DesignTex.

From panel fabric to printed glass

Although furniture is our foundation (our archives contain more than 3,000 original patterns) we continually explore new ways of incorporating textile and pattern design in different applications. These explorations have led to many exciting and innovative products, from digitally printed custom glass to woven textile components to woven photography, featured in our Products section.

Thinking in 3-D

Our designers, who are all fine artists, come at any project from both an aesthetic and engineering perspective. They think in 3-D, providing our clients not only the patterns, but also the technical data necessary to produce our designs on today's looms and print technology. This is a unique and very workable combination of talents.

Combining design and R&D, we work closely with our clients to develop all aspects of our final product for them, from translating ideas into textile form to yarn and color development, always keeping in mind how it will be applied to their final product. We also keep a close eye on the industry so we're aware of issues and challenges our clients face - environmental concerns, application challenges - and can be proactive in helping them find solutions.

Our goal

Our goal is to help our clients develop fresh, smart, well-conceived products that succeed in meeting the needs of their customers. One of the most rewarding aspects of our job is watching our designs come to fruition, knowing that we've hit the mark.

Our accomplishments

We're particularly proud of our innovative work in weaving textile components using our patent pending Jacqform™ technology. At NeoCon 2007 in the izzy showroom, we launched our premier Jacqform product; izzyCritters. We are also proud of our prototype Jacqform seating components and bags, currently under development.

In addition we are very proud of and inspired by our classic textiles, featuring a new Frise loop upholstery product, and our new Studio Z Digital Collection of patterns.

Other notable accomplishments: our award-winning panel fabrics for Steelcase; Vista, our innovative panel fabric program designed for the jobber customs market; and our continued developments of digitally-printed glass and plastics, featured at izzy and Details.

Anna Zaharakos, Founder